Jeff Judson

Jeff Judson hopes to be elected in his own right this May, after receiving a 2007 appointment to fill a vacated slot.

In the year since becoming a member of an Olmos Park City Council, he points to a number of key accomplishments for voters’ consideration.

He touts efforts at creating railroad quiet zones prohibiting train horns from blaring in neighborhoods closest to tracks. He also points to ongoing work developing a new City Hall and Olmos Park Business Association revitalization.

“Of any issue Olmos Park currently is addressing, this one has the greatest direct and measurable impact on quality of life,” he said of his quiet zone initiative.

Judson vowed to continue pushing for the measure despite current funding unavailability for a prerequisite study. “This would have a measurable impact on the quality of life for hundreds of residents. I hope to achieve the quiet zone by 2009.”

Before replacing former councilman Ronald J. Hermann, who resigned for health reasons, Judson served on a City Hall planning committee advising on alternative sites for new city quarters. It was during this stint when he achieved a defining moment, during a search for land that included the site where a McCullough hair salon rests.

“This particular property owner said his property wasn’t for sale so the mayor suggested the city might then just condemn the property – which wasn’t one of the committee’s recommendations.”

On his own, Judson persuaded a homeowner with property across from existing municipal headquarters to sell his land. A new municipal complex – with a footprint encompassing two properties facing each other – is now planned as a result.

He continues providing input related to design of the envisioned complex: “I’ve insisted in regards to the new City Hall that we not build any interior space that does not have an immediate or definitely planned use. There’s always a tendency to say ‘Well, let’s just add this one extra room and maybe someday we’ll add in the blanks.’ That just leads to city government adding more staff and expanding their size and cost unnecessarily.”

That kind of thinking – fiscally conservative while eschewing government waste – has been developed over years, starting after college when he worked in Washington, D.C., for the late U.S. Sen. John Tower, in his last year in the Senate. He worked for two more politicians after that, before a stint with the U.S. Department of Energy.

“I spent eight years there, working to limit the size of government and reduce spending,” Judson said. “When I came back to Texas, I worked three years at USAA, fighting excessive government regulations.”

He later served as president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a think tank promoting limited government: “My core belief is we need government that doesn’t do less but does more in achieving its core purpose without unnecessarily interfering with people’s lives.”

Tacitly pro-business, that philosophy lent itself in reviving the Olmos Park Business Association now rallying for downtown revitalization. The city is now exploring funding sources for lighting, sidewalks, landscaping and other enhancements.

“The city never considered businesses to be constituents,” Judson said. “They’re very important constituents contributing quite a bit of revenue to city coffers. We now have an entity that can speak for and represent the business community before city government.”